• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers Conference
• /
• 1995.10a
• /
• pp.16-19
• /
• 1995

Effects of the changes in bottom topography and non-linearity of the western boundary current on the separation position of the Tsushima Warm Current(TWC) are investigated using a primitive equation model in a simplified model domain which consists of a deep ocean, a continental shelf and a marginal sea(Fig. 1). (omitted)

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.49 no.1
• /
• pp.61-73
• /
• 2016

Water mass distribution and currents were investigated off the east coast of Korea near the Hupo Bank using the CTD and ADCP data from June to August 2010. The typical water masses were: (1) Tsushima Surface Water (TSW) from the East Korean Warm Current (EKWC) in the surface layer, (2) a shallow thermocline at 20-30 m depth, (3) Tsushima Middle Water (TMW) of high salinity (>34.2) below the pycnocline, (4) North Korean Cold Water (NKCW) of low salinity (<34.05) and low temperature (<4°C) in the lower layer. In June, a double eddy was observed in which a cold filament intruded cyclonically from the south around a pre-existing cold-core eddy. A burst of strong southward current was recorded in mid-August due to a warm filament from the meandering EKWC. Current in the N-S direction was predominant due to topographic effects, and the direction of the northward EKWC was frequently reversed in its direction due to the eddy-filament activity, whereas the influence of the wind was not noticeable. The vertical structure of the current was of a two-layer system, with the northward EKWC in the upper layer and weak southward flows corresponding to the North Korean Cold Current (NKCC) in the deeper layer.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.30 no.6
• /
• pp.1021-1032
• /
• 1997

Satellite-tracked drifters deployed in the East Sea since 1991 are used to study the Tsushima Current (TC). It is found that the TC is a steady current with a mean speed of 10 cm/s before it enters the East Sea. Only during the summer, the TC flows along Honshu Island with a mean speed of $30\~40\;cm/s$ and then exits through the Tsugaru Strait. In fall and winter, the TC does not follow the coast along Honshu Island but it enters into the interior of the East Sea before it reaches the Tsugaru Strait. The water that passes the West Channel of the Korea Strait mostly comes from the western East China Sea and spreads into the interior of the East Sea. It also forms the large eddies in the southern East Sea. The outflow through the Tsugaru Strait comes from the interior of the East Sea in all seasons except summer. The mean speed of the Tsugaru Strait outflow is about 60 cm/s. The largest current variability is found in the eastern central area of the East Sea, south of sub-polar front.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.26 no.7
• /
• pp.714-724
• /
• 2005

The East Sea, a semi-enclosed marginal sea with shallow straits in the northwest Pacific, is marked by the nearly geographic isolation and the low sea surface salinity during the last glacial maximum (LGM). The East Sea might have the only connection to the open ocean through the Korea Strait with a sill depth of 130 m, allowing the paleo-Tsushima Water to enter the sea during the LGM. The low paleosalinity associated with abnormally light $\delta^{18}O$ values of planktonic foraminifera is interpreted to have resulted from river discharge and precipitation. Nevertheless, two LGM features in the East Sea are disputable. This study attempts to estimate volume transport of the paleo-Tsushima Water via the Korea Strait and further examines its effect on the low sea surface salinity (SSS) during the lowest sea level of the LGM. The East Sea was not completely isolated, but partially linked to the northern East China Sea through the Korea Strait during the LGM. The volume transport of the paleo-Tsushima Water during the LGM is calculated approximately$(0.5\~2.1)\times10^{12}m^3/yr$ on the basis of the selected seismic reflection profiles along with bathymetry and current data. The annual influx of the paleo-Tsushima Water is low, compared to the 100 m-thick surface water volume $(about\;79.75\times10^{12}m^3)$ in the East Sea. The paleo-Tsushima Water influx might have changed the surface water properties within a geologically short time, potentially decreasing sea surface salinity. However, the effect of volume transport on the low sea surface salinity essentially depends on freshwater amounts within the paleo-Tsushima Water and excessive evaporation during the glacial lowstands of sea level. Even though the paleo-Tsushima Water is assumed to have been entirely freshwater at that time period, it would annually reduce only about 1‰ of salinity in the surface water of the East Sea. Thus, the paleo-Tsushima Water influx itself might not be large enough to significantly reduce the paleosalinity of about 100 m-thick surface layer during the LGM. This further suggests contribution of additional river discharges from nearby fluvial systems (e.g. the Amur River) to freshen the surface water.

• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.23-31
• /
• 1996

The thermo-haline front frequently observed near the southwestern tip of Korean Peninsula is successfully modeled using a simple model. The front is formed by the wind-driven advection of local cooled water to the southern warm area which is kept warm by large heat advection of the Tsushima Current. The front thus locates north of the Tsushima Current which runs approximately along the isobaths in the east-west direction.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.39 no.3
• /
• pp.169-179
• /
• 2017

The "GeoDrifter" is a newly-developed surface drifter with high temporal resolution. It is the first time that high-frequency drifters have been deployed in the East/Japan Sea. The purpose of this study is to introduce the phenomena experienced by these drifters flowing along with the Tsushima Current across the East/Japan Sea, focusing on high-frequency variability, and to discuss them in comparison with previous observations. The observed basin-scale circulation of the Tsushima Current generally coincides well with the known schematic circulation. The GeoDrifter trajectories also show inertial oscillations almost everywhere in the oceanic regions of the East/Japan Sea, strong semi-diurnal tidal currents in the western part of Korea Strait, diurnal currents much stronger than semi-diurnal currents in the upstream region of the Nearshore Branch off the Japanese coast, and many warm eddies in the Yamato Basin, all comparable to the observational results reported in the previous studies. An interesting point is that the semi-diurnal tidal currents undergo a great spatial variation in the western part of the Korea Strait. The observed features that cannot be explained are, among others, strong counter-clockwise motions with oscillating period about 51 hours appearing in the upstream region of the Nearshore Branch off the Japanese coast and the different tidal behaviors between upstream and downstream regions of the latter.

• 한국해양학회지
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.1-11
• /
• 1981

The seasonal variations of surface current patterns in the Japan Sea were drawn out from the results of drift bottle experiments, current measurements and hydrographic observations during 1979∼1980. The North Korean Cold Current(NKCC) and the East Korean Warm Current(EKWC) were common features of circulation in the eastern sea of Korea. The intrusion of NKCC along the Korean coast became strong in summer(average velocity of 47.4cm/sec off Jumunjin and 23.4cm/sec near Jugbyeon) when the Tsushima Current was strong. But there was no indication of the NKCC in November 1979. Dynamic topography(August & November 1979) and satellite picture(November 1979) seemed to show the topographic steering of EKWC beginning off Janggigab. Drift bottles arrived at the Japaness coast were affected significantly by the strong Tsushima Current in summer and by the predominant northwesterlies in winter instead of weak current.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.49 no.3
• /
• pp.393-403
• /
• 2016

A steady, strong southward flow was observed in the lower layer beneath the Tsushima Warm Current in the deepest trough of the Korea Strait. Known as the Korea Strait Bottom Cold Water (KSBCW), this bottom current had a mean velocity of 24 cm/s and temperatures below 8–10℃. The direction of the bottom current was highly stable due to the topographic effects of the elongated trough. To determine the path of the southward bottom current, ADCP (Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler) data from 14 stations between 1999 and 2005 were examined. Persistent southward flows with average speeds of 4–10 cm/s were observed at only three places to the north of the strait where the bottom depths were 100–124 m. The collected data suggest a possible course of the southward bottom current along the southeast Korean coast before entering the deep trough of the Strait.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.63-93
• /
• 2023

This study aims to examine the history of naming the strait between the Yellow and East China Seas and the East Sea to suggest a consistent nomenclature and to demarcate the geographic region of the strait. Although the strait is internationally known as 'Korea Strait', it is commonly referred to as the 'South Sea' in Korean common usage. This review ultimately recommends the use of 'Korea Strait' as an appropriate geographical name for this area. To support this recommendation, the historical boundaries typically assigned to the Korea Strait were investigated. We also analyzed the evolution of geographical labels assigned to Korea Strait and to the Western and Eastern Channels (labels given to the two maritime areas surrounding Tsushima). Resources for this analysis included historic maps and charts, International Hydrographic Organization Special Publications (S-23), and maps published in the Ocean Science Journal (OSJ) and Journal of Oceanography (JO), which are two international journals representing Korean and Japanese sources, respectively, from 2005 to 2021. In these two international journals, the most frequently used names assigned to the strait of interest were Korea Strait (appearing 42.9% of OSJ maps, and 7.5% of JO maps), and Tsushima Strait (appearing 60.4% of JO maps, and 0% of OSJ maps). Other names were South Sea and Korea Strait/Tsushima Strait. On maps in the two reviewed journals, the boundaries of Korea Strait were defined explicitly or implicitly in five different ways: a broad region between the Yellow and East China Seas and Ulleung Basin (Type 1), the region between Ulleung Basin and Tsushima (Type 2), the western channel of the strait (Type 3-1), the eastern channel of the strait (Type 3-2), and both the western and eastern channels of the strait (Type 4). Overall, Type 1 was the most frequently used boundary, taking up 71.4% of OSJ and 60.4% of JO maps. Lastly, we suggest in this paper that the current flowing through Korea Strait from the East China Sea to the East Sea should be labeled the 'Korea Strait Warm Current' to indicate its full path through the strait. Currently, this current is internationally referred to as the 'Tsushima Warm Current', which does not link well to the commonly used geographic name of the strait.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.38 no.1
• /
• pp.29-38
• /
• 2005

The distributions of fish larvae and juveniles from the East China Sea, Yellow Sea and near Tsushima Island were investigated in Spring using the Maruchi (1994-1995) and Unagi (1996-1997) nets. A total of 94 species of fish larvae and juveniles belonging to 49 families under 17 orders were identified, of which Engraulis japonicus was dominant in every year except 1995 where Trachurus japonicus was dominant. Cluster analysis based on abundance and species composition by sampling stations (St.) revealed that the similar stations formed an arcuate group from Tsushima Island to southern Jeju Island in 1994, and from the Yellow Sea to southern Jeju Island in 1996. We concluded that these patterns resulted from the influence of the Tsushima Current prevailing in the east, and the Chinese Continental Waters and/or Hwanghae Cold Waters prevailing in the west, with Jeju Island exerting an influence in the centre. The diversity and composition of St. 97-3 and St. 97-5, both located where the Tsushima Current splits from the Kuroshio Current, was greatly different despite their close proximity. However, the former is located on the continental shelf, with the latter on the continental slope. This suggested that both topography and the Kuroshio Current have the most influence on the distribution of fish larvae and juveniles in this region. Furthermore, the weak Hwanghae Cold Waters of 1997 may have also limited the mixing of fish larvae and juveniles between the two stations.